Tesla Model X Could Have A New Rival From Jaguar

Tesla Motors is known for its innovation in the automobile industry, and its success with its electric cars is giving rise to large a number of competitors. The latest to join Tesla’s growing list of rivals is Jaguar.

Tesla and its rivals

Tesla is focusing on increasing its scale, sales and brand reputation in an expanding market for electric vehicles, and this is attracting rivals to make their own electric cars to compete with Tesla.

Two major auto firms, Audi and Aston Martin, recently announced plans to come up with electric vehicles, and now Jaguar joins the fray. Tom Webster of Autocar noted that recently an application has been filed by Jaguar for getting the name “EV-Type” trademarked. Webster also said that Jaguar is about to introduce the F-PACE SUV soon, and the EV-Type could be an electric variant of that.

The first SUV from Jaguar – F-Pace – is based on the C-X17 concept, which was unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show. The production F-PACE could hit the U.S. as a 2016 model.

Will it compete with Model X?

Though there have been no comments from the company, earlier this year, Jaguar’s design director Ian Callum noted in an interview to Business Insider that: “I’ll be honest with you. We are working on (electric and hybrid technology) quite thoroughly. We have to be because at some point we are going to have to have zero emissions vehicles in the fleet. We’ve got no choice.” Moving forward, electric cars, hybrid cars and plug-in hybrids will become “inevitable,.”

For Jaguar, its silky smooth and technologically advanced pair of supercharged V6 and V8 engines dominates its current U.S. line-up. Though the performance offered is incredible, they fail to achieve mileage that meets government fuel economy standards. It is believed that an electric powered F-Pace has lots of potential, and it could become an alternative to the highly-awaited Tesla Model X crossover, says a report from Business Insider.

The performance capabilities of the rumored EV-Type are not known for now. That means it is not possible to say whether it will be able to beat or match Tesla’s 4 seconds to 60 mph acceleration or its range of 300 miles.